Always On CX:EX

Teams Can Run Your Contact Center. Here's How to Know If It Should. | Ep. 28

Sometimes, the part of the business that ends up driving the most growth is the part you didn't plan for. Sam Hasson [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sam-hasson-4415a91a5] and Tinkle [https://www.tinkle.co] started out selling cloud communications and Microsoft Teams telephony. Then customers kept asking the same question: Can it do contact center, too? Today, the contact center practice is the fastest-growing part of the business. ㅤ On this episode, Jon Zoltie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-zoltie-73bb0523/], host of Always On CX:EX and contact center SME for EMEA at AudioCodes [https://www.audiocodes.com], sits down with Sam to break down when Microsoft Teams actually works as a contact center, where the mid-market sweet spot lives, and what to look at if you're starting to question whether your current setup still makes sense. ㅤ They get into the 250 to 3,000 user band where this story plays out most often, the hidden cost of bolting third-party CX platforms onto Teams, the single fabric problem of connecting back office, front of house, and contact center, and why being late to mention AI in a conversation might be the most refreshing thing about it. ㅤ 👤 Guest Bio Sam Hasson [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sam-hasson-4415a91a5] is co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Tinkle [https://www.tinkle.co], a Leeds-based AI communications service provider that delivers cloud telephony, managed Microsoft Teams Direct Routing, and contact center AI to UK SMEs and mid-market customers through an exclusive channel of MSPs and resellers. Founded in 2017 alongside Joseph Flahive, Tinkle has built its Teams voice and contact center stack in partnership with AudioCodes [https://www.audiocodes.com]. Sam has more than 15 years of commercial experience across UK managed IT and communications, and is a regular voice on the UK channel stage at events such as Channel Live. ㅤ 📌 What We Coverㅤ * How Tinkle ended up in the contact center was because customers pulled them in, not because they planned to be there * The 250 to 3,000 user mid-market sweet spot for Microsoft Teams as a contact center platform * A recent UK legal sector win at around 1,400 employees, and why the 100 customer-facing users are the real story * Why bolting a third-party CX platform onto Teams comes with what Sam calls "an extra pop" * The difference between integrating with Teams and being native in Teams, and when each one matters * How Microsoft's closing of the workaround for free presence integration about a year ago changed the buying calculus * Connecting back office, front of house, and contact center on a single presence fabric * Why leading with AI features misses what mid-market customers actually want from a contact center platform ㅤ 🔗 Resources Mentioned * Tinkle [https://www.tinkle.co] * AudioCodes [https://www.audiocodes.com] ㅤ Get Started with Voca CIC 👉 Start a free trial of the Voca Conversational Interaction Center for 30-days: https://voca.audiocodes.io/signup [https://voca.audiocodes.io/signup] 👉 Learn more about AudioCodes Voca CIC: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbUQxeERlZE5ZeGJBQkFualRYTmlaeGI4QjlHd3xBQ3Jtc0tuSjJjN2Q1b0hyTDRUTVJSN05jOWJHTHdMSFNqVkZJZTkxRnlxYi1fbXBTSXh0UndCZ3JyMjZ1UDRBRUVxV1BTVnBJaUx5bEE1TWM0TXJTRHM1Z2lTaVNRREJCVThsNlpQWmlJOXBWTS1lNWJzV3RiUQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.audiocodes.com%2Fsolutions-products%2Fvoiceai%2Fvoca-conversational-interaction-center&v=gA6acI4DeT0https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center [https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center]

The Hidden Work That Makes a CCaaS Migration Successful | Ep. 27

When contact centers migrate to Microsoft Teams, the technology itself is rarely the bottleneck. The real challenge comes down to human habits. ㅤ Host Jon Zoltie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-zoltie-73bb0523/] sits down with Richard Sewell [https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-sewell-6579211a/] to examine what happens immediately after a new system goes live. They discuss the stark contrast between adaptable users and those who struggle to understand that a computer and a phone are now the same device. ㅤ Richard explains how modern analytics give managers undeniable proof of workload and staffing gaps. He also highlights why organizations must leave legacy concepts such as pickup groups behind as they move to dispersed cloud environments. Ultimately, success relies on early adoption, proper training, and letting go of analog mindsets. ㅤ 👤 Guest Bio Richard Sewell [https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-sewell-6579211a/] is the Client IT Manager at Chartered Institute of Housing. For over sixteen years, Richard has managed technical operations and client infrastructure. He specializes in Citrix and remote support technologies. ㅤ Richard focuses on a collaborative approach to IT, helping businesses move from legacy setups to modern, flexible systems. Outside of managing technology, Richard is a dedicated family man who enjoys the gym, cars, and playing computer games with his young son. ㅤ 📌 What We Cover 1. The wild card of migration: why user mindset causes more support tickets than the technical setup itself. 2. Breaking the muscle memory of the traditional desk phone and adapting to presence status controls like "Do Not Disturb". 3. Why does internet quality completely change the troubleshooting process for remote workers? 4. Using new communication flexibility to work seamlessly from a home office, an airport, or abroad. 5. How managers use call analytics to visualize team workloads and justify hiring requests to the finance department. 6. The problem with requesting legacy features like pickup groups for teams spread across different cities. 7. Turning off analog systems requires early planning and mandatory user training well before the switch. ㅤ 🔗 Resources Mentioned 1. AudioCodes [https://www.audiocodes.com/] 2. Microsoft Teams [https://www.microsoft.com/en/microsoft-365/business/compare-all-microsoft-365-business-products-b?ef_id=_k_Cj0KCQjwgr_NBhDFARIsAHiUWr42QMyUEXorKf9d2YOMenwS5drTo_9AQpT8xUlj1WY9BDg3p_CbEY4aAhirEALw_wcB_k_&OCID=AIDcmmivczxkww_SEM__k_Cj0KCQjwgr_NBhDFARIsAHiUWr42QMyUEXorKf9d2YOMenwS5drTo_9AQpT8xUlj1WY9BDg3p_CbEY4aAhirEALw_wcB_k_&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23488606734&gbraid=0AAAAADcJh_tyOjFH_DWVkYJRFSIggHHr9&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgr_NBhDFARIsAHiUWr42QMyUEXorKf9d2YOMenwS5drTo_9AQpT8xUlj1WY9BDg3p_CbEY4aAhirEALw_wcB] ㅤ Get Started with Voca CIC 👉 Start a free trial of the Voca Conversational Interaction Center for 30-days: https://voca.audiocodes.io/signup [https://voca.audiocodes.io/signup] 👉 Learn more about AudioCodes Voca CIC: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbUQxeERlZE5ZeGJBQkFualRYTmlaeGI4QjlHd3xBQ3Jtc0tuSjJjN2Q1b0hyTDRUTVJSN05jOWJHTHdMSFNqVkZJZTkxRnlxYi1fbXBTSXh0UndCZ3JyMjZ1UDRBRUVxV1BTVnBJaUx5bEE1TWM0TXJTRHM1Z2lTaVNRREJCVThsNlpQWmlJOXBWTS1lNWJzV3RiUQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.audiocodes.com%2Fsolutions-products%2Fvoiceai%2Fvoca-conversational-interaction-center&v=gA6acI4DeT0https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center [https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center]

How to Get to “Where’s My Package” | Ep. 26

One in two calls never reaches a human agent. This statistic highlights a shift from using AI strictly for routing to using it for true resolution. Jon Zoltie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-zoltie-73bb0523/] joins Oren Batchelor [https://www.linkedin.com/in/oren-batchelor-3817b5230/] to discuss the mechanics of resolving high-volume requests—like "where is my package"—without human intervention. The conversation explains how Large Language Models (LLMs) and APIs work together to perform data queries, check order statuses, and even use external data, such as weather reports, to explain delays. ㅤ They also address the dangers of the "Super Bot"—an attempt to automate sales, billing, and support in a single unmanageable system. Oren explains why specialized agents are more effective and details how to establish guardrails to prevent AI from hallucinating or accessing sensitive data. The discussion concludes with practical steps for leaders to help identify call topics suitable for automation. ㅤ Guest Bio Oren Batchelor [https://www.linkedin.com/in/oren-batchelor-3817b5230/] is a Contact Center Specialist at AudioCodes [https://www.audiocodes.com/], working within the UK team to bridge the gap between technical capability and business requirements. He focuses on migrating and operationalizing contact center solutions within the Microsoft Teams ecosystem, specifically handling the Voca CIC [https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center] line of business. ㅤ What We Cover 1. The technical process behind AI resolution includes intent detection and API lookups for real-time tracking. 2. Using external data reasoning (e.g., snowstorms in Germany) to explain delivery delays to customers. 3. The "Human in the Loop" concept: allowing AI to process small refunds while routing high-value approvals to agents. 4. Why high-empathy scenarios, such as grief or bereavement, must always bypass automation. 5. The seamlessness of modern insurance policy updates compared to legacy voice interactions. 6. The efficiency gains of removing mundane tasks like password resets from an agent's workload. 7. The "Super Bot" mistake: Why trying to build one bot for every department often fails. 8. Practical first steps: analyzing the last six months of call data to find candidates for automation. ㅤ Resources Mentioned 1. AudioCodes [https://www.audiocodes.com/] 2. Voca CIC [https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center] 3. Google AI Report 2026 [https://cloud.google.com/resources/content/ai-agent-trends-2026] ㅤ Get Started with Voca CIC 👉 Start a free trial of the Voca Conversational Interaction Center for 30-days: https://voca.audiocodes.io/signup [https://voca.audiocodes.io/signup] 👉 Learn more about AudioCodes Voca CIC: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbUQxeERlZE5ZeGJBQkFualRYTmlaeGI4QjlHd3xBQ3Jtc0tuSjJjN2Q1b0hyTDRUTVJSN05jOWJHTHdMSFNqVkZJZTkxRnlxYi1fbXBTSXh0UndCZ3JyMjZ1UDRBRUVxV1BTVnBJaUx5bEE1TWM0TXJTRHM1Z2lTaVNRREJCVThsNlpQWmlJOXBWTS1lNWJzV3RiUQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.audiocodes.com%2Fsolutions-products%2Fvoiceai%2Fvoca-conversational-interaction-center&v=gA6acI4DeT0https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center [https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center]

Practical AI in CX: From Tedious Call Notes to Instant AI Summaries | Ep. 25

With all the excitement, confusion, and hype around AI, it's tough to cut through the noise and figure out what works and what's worth investing in. On Always On CX:EX, host Sarah Skidd [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahskidd/], product marketing manager at Voca by AudioCodes [https://www.audiocodes.com/], talks with Jon Zoltie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-zoltie-73bb0523/], an AI and contact center expert, to talk about using AI at the end of the call. ㅤ They break down the practical steps: turning on call recording, getting accurate transcription, unlocking AI summarization, and adding AI sentiment analysis. Using a university handling a million calls a year across IT, enrollment, financial aid, and campus security as an example, they show how customized AI summaries, AI sentiment analysis, and seamless CRM integration give agents, supervisors, and leadership the clean, structured insights they need—all while keeping the customer and employee experience front and center. ㅤㅤ Guest Bio Jon Zoltie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-zoltie-73bb0523/] is an expert in AI and contact centers. ㅤ What We Cover 1. Why call wrap-up is the most logical next step in your AI journey after conversational IVA 2. How manual wrap-up work—racing against KPIs and typing notes mid-call—creates inconsistent, subjective data that leads to weak insights 3. Why turning on compliance call recording is step one, so AI can access your conversation data 4. Using accurate transcription as the foundation that unlocks everything else 5. Adding custom AI summarization to turn massive transcripts into quick overviews, bullet points, and clear action items 6. Tailoring AI summaries by department so each team gets relevant information 7. Using AI sentiment analysis to understand not just what was said, but how it was said—tracking customer mood and spotting both frustration and delight 8. How AI summaries and sentiment analysis free up agents to focus on customers, give supervisors quickly scannable data, and provide leadership with structured, objective insights that inform strategy 9. Pushing conversation data, AI summaries, and sentiment straight into your CRM or database—Salesforce, HubSpot, Power BI—with one click ㅤ Resources Mentioned 1. Voca, at AudioCodes 2. Salesforce (CRM) 3. HubSpot (CRM) 4. Power BI 5. Microsoft Teams contact center ㅤ Get Started with Voca CIC 👉 Start a free trial of the Voca Conversational Interaction Center for 30-days: https://voca.audiocodes.io/signup [https://voca.audiocodes.io/signup] 👉 Learn more about AudioCodes Voca CIC: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbUQxeERlZE5ZeGJBQkFualRYTmlaeGI4QjlHd3xBQ3Jtc0tuSjJjN2Q1b0hyTDRUTVJSN05jOWJHTHdMSFNqVkZJZTkxRnlxYi1fbXBTSXh0UndCZ3JyMjZ1UDRBRUVxV1BTVnBJaUx5bEE1TWM0TXJTRHM1Z2lTaVNRREJCVThsNlpQWmlJOXBWTS1lNWJzV3RiUQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.audiocodes.com%2Fsolutions-products%2Fvoiceai%2Fvoca-conversational-interaction-center&v=gA6acI4DeT0https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center [https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center]

2026 Predictions with Jon Zoltie | Ep. 24

Humans win, and bots assist. A return to real human connections, contact centers being designed for people first and bot second, and customers increasingly opting out of those AI loops that go round in circles. Jon Zoltie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-zoltie-73bb0523/] talk through top five predictions for 2026 in the contact center environment: the option to speak to a human at every step rather than buried deep within menu systems; CRMs losing a little bit of their status as the gospel of truth as organizations realize the contact center captures what customers actually said, how they said it, how they felt—more objective—and that becoming the source of truth. Voice as a primary interface across devices, apps, and workflows. AI is built into tools and embedded in existing platforms rather than delivered as point solutions. And the ROI element: measurable business impact, clear KPIs, average handle time, misroutes, deflection, wrap-up time, and data that can be proven and quantifiable. ㅤ 📌 WHAT WE COVER * Humans win, and bots assist: over automation, a return to real human connections, people first and bot second * Customers opting out of AI loops and requesting human agents straight away * IVR flows to always include the option to speak to a human at every step, not buried deep within menu systems * CRMs losing status as the gospel of truth; contact center conversations as the source of truth * Investing massive amounts in conversation intelligence rather than relying on manual CRM entry * Automatically pushing transcripts, summaries, and sentiment analysis from contact centers into the CRM * Voice as a primary interface across devices, apps, and workflows; conversational IVR, long prompts, and AI assistants * ROI as a key driver: measurable business impact, clear KPIs, average handle time, misroutes, deflection, wrap-up time, time to resolution ㅤ 🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED * CRM * IVA * IVR * conversational IVR * conversation intelligence * transcripts and summaries * sentiment analysis * large language models * AI assistants ㅤ Get Started with Voca CIC 👉 Start a free trial of the Voca Conversational Interaction Center for 30-days: https://voca.audiocodes.io/signup [https://voca.audiocodes.io/signup] 👉 Learn more about AudioCodes Voca CIC: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbUQxeERlZE5ZeGJBQkFualRYTmlaeGI4QjlHd3xBQ3Jtc0tuSjJjN2Q1b0hyTDRUTVJSN05jOWJHTHdMSFNqVkZJZTkxRnlxYi1fbXBTSXh0UndCZ3JyMjZ1UDRBRUVxV1BTVnBJaUx5bEE1TWM0TXJTRHM1Z2lTaVNRREJCVThsNlpQWmlJOXBWTS1lNWJzV3RiUQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.audiocodes.com%2Fsolutions-products%2Fvoiceai%2Fvoca-conversational-interaction-center&v=gA6acI4DeT0https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center [https://www.audiocodes.com/solutions-products/voiceai/voca-conversational-interaction-center]